Shoe machines



1959 cs. PICKFORD ETAL 2,900,932

' SHOE MACHINES Filed Jan. 13, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventors George Pzlckford Ra lph Ward Aug. 25, 1959 a. PICKFORD ETAL SHOE MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 13, 1956 g m d w w 3 p.

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Aug. 25, 1959 s. PICKFORD EI'AL SHOE MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventors George Pic/(Ford Filed Jan. 13, 1956 Ralph Wa rd s- 25, 1959 G. PICKFORD ETAL 2,900,932

SHOE MACHINES Filed Jan. 13, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 In men tom Geo/"5e Pic/(ford Ralph Ward B hez' 1 may United States Patentsnon MACHINES George Pickfordand Ralph Ward, Beverly, Mass, assignors to-United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Fleming ton, N11, a corporation of New Jersey Application January 13,1956,.Serial.No. 558,965

12 Claims. (Cl. 112-944) This invention relates to machines for operating upon stitchdown shoes inwhichxawelt is sewn or otherwise attached to a projecting marginal portion of an outsole and to the outturned flange of an upper around the peripheryof a shoe while. the shoe is supported on a last in a. sole uppermost or inverted position. The leading end of the welt is presented to the stitch forming devices in starting a new seam and the welt is severed at its trailing end to provide a cut surface which is matched with a cut surface at the leading end of the welt to produce an accurately formed joint between said leading and trailing ends. A sewing machine of the type referred to is. disclosed in United States Letters.

beveled end which matches the leading beveled end already attached to the shoe. The knife is located close to the stitch-forming devices and is reciprocated along a plane forming an acute angle with the plane ofthe shoe outsole. In making the cut, the knife passes through the welt and contacts the outturnedupper material to which the welt is sewn, the upper material and the out, sole serving as a cutting block. In so doing, theknife usually cuts into the outturned upper material, but in the finished shoe, this is unnoticeable, being covered by the welt joint.

It is desired in the present invention to provide a severing mechanism which is particularly adapted for use with welt of the high wall type which, in cross section, is substantially L shaped, having in the finished shoe a sole engaging horizontal flange stitched to the outturned upper and outsole and a substantially vertical or upstanding flange or wall which engages the upper along its bulging portion. This type of welt aids in preventing moisture from entering the shoe and is frequently referred to as storm welt, as distinguished from the more common flat welt of substantially rectangular cross section with no upstanding flange. a high-wall welt, the upstanding flange closely hugs the upper and follows its curvature, whereby its uppermost flange bears against the bulging outer surface of the shoe upper with an effective weather excluding action. If an attempt is made to employ mechanism of the abovementioned patented machine to sever a high-wall welt, in which machine the outturned upper serves as a cutting block, one of two undesirable conditions results. First, only the horizontal flange of the welt is severed completely, the knife passing by most or all of the vertical leg portion ofthe welt, or, secondly, if the knife is moved inwardly. of the shoe, or if its width is increased so that ice the wall of the welt is severed completely, the bulging upper constituting the side of the shoe is cut by the knife. These conditions .will become more apparent from a consideration of the drawings and specification.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a welt severing mechanism for a stitchdow-n shoe machine arranged to operate on a shoe presented in the usual inverted position, which mechanism will completely sever a high wall welt, or one of any other cross section, without the necessity of cutting against or into the upper material of a shoe.

Another object is to provide a welt severing mechanism for a stitchdown shoe machine which is substantially automatic in operation and requires a minimum amount of skill to produce a uniformly matched joint between the cut ends of the Welt. Other objects of the invention are to provide a more versatile welt severing mechanism than heretofore available for a shoe sewing machine of the type above noted and to reduce the normal amount of skill required to produce the highest quality shoes.

In accordance with the objects and as a feature of this invention, there is provided a stitchdown shoe fastening machine having attaching and feeding devices acting progressively along the marginal portions of lasted stitchdown uppers and soles presented to the machine in the usual position with the sole uppermost, a guide for directing the movement of the welt toward the upper at the point of attachment and a welt severing knife movable transversely to the guide, in which machine there is provided means for actuating the knife comprising a feeler finger engaging the last supported portion of the shoe upper only rather than being subject to variations or irregularities in the contour of the sole or other parts. In one form of this feature the feeler finger is hooked at its upper engaging end and is so located that as the leading end of the welt first attached to the shoe is moved by the progress of the shoe it is engaged by the hook to initiate actuation of the welt cutting knife. In the illustrated machine, the knife is actuated by electromagnetic means controlled by a microswitch connected with the feeler finger to close a circuit for the eleotrornagnet.

As another feature of the invention there is provided a manually operated safety switch connectedin the electromagnet circuit with the control switch to prevent actuation of the knife except in a limited area along, the marginal portions of each shoe upon which the feeler finger acts. Thus, the electromagnet circuit is held open in spite of prominent edges of the shoe upper or any other projection before the leading end of the welt is reached.

To establish a fixed relationship between the ends of.

the welt sewn to a shoe so that an accurately matched joint may be formed between the ends, according to another feature of the invention, there is also provided a timing switch connected in series. with the control and safety switches. As illustrated, the timing switch is mounted on the machine at a position in which it is responsive to a movement of the feeding devices and in one form of this feature, it completes the circuit for the electrom-agnet at the limit of maximum feeding movement of the feeding devices.

These and other features of the invention consist in the novel and improved devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be readily understood. from the following description taken in connection with. the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig, l is a front perspective View of a stitchdown shoe sewing machine embodying the invention;

Fig.- 2 is a plan view partly in section on an enlarged scale of part of the welt severing and clamping mechanism in the machine shown in Fig. 1 comprising a welt end engaging finger and its associated mounting structure with the machine in stopped position;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2 but showing a portion of a shoe partly in section at a position where the welt is ready to be severed;

Fig. 4 is a sectional portion of the severing mechanism taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional portion of a shoe being operated upon by the machine, as viewed along tlhe line V--V of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a view in right front elevation and on an enlarged scale of parts of the machine shown in Fig. 1, comprising a welt clamping and advancing mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a plan View of the mechanism shown in Fi 6; j

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a detail view taken in the direction of the arrow IX in Fig. 6;

Fig. 10 is a detail view in right side elevation of portions of the machine with the welt severing mechanism;

Fig. 11 is a schematic View and wiring diagram of the various electrical elements forming part of the invention; and

Fig. 12 is a sectional view, looking from the front, of a part of the welt guide.

The machine illustrated in the drawings is a shoe machine comprising devices for attaching together the parts of a stitchdown shoe, constructed and arranged to insert a lockstitch seam in the parts supported on a last and presented to the machine in inverted or soleup ermost position. The machine is similar, except as hereinafter described, to that disclosed in the above-mentioned Ashworth patent.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, the machine comprises a main frame 10 carrying the usual stitch forming "and work feeding devices of an outsole stitcher, including a curved hook needle 12 and a curved awl 14 mounted to oscillate in a fixed plane P defining the sewing point of the machine at its intersection with the line of a seam inserted. The machine is equipped with a rotary shuttle 16 for passing each loop of needle thread about a locking thread case 17 and an oscillating work support 18 with a presser foot 20 for clamping the welt against the shoe during the operation of the stitch forming devices and for feeding the shoe while clamped. The shoe operated on (see Figs. 3 and 5) comprises an outsole 0, the welt, indicated at W, and an upper U, which are joined by a line of stitches S, while the shoe is supported on a last L. While presenting a stitchdown shoe to the machine the projecting marginal portions of its outflanged lasted upper and its sole are progressively clamped and fed past the sewing point according to the usual practice, the outflanged portion of the upper forming with its bulging last supported surface a crevice into which the work support enters. Before starting sewing operations the welt W is advanced into the crevice and across the sewing point through a sewing weltguide 22 by means of a welt advancing clamp 24 movable along the guide, the guide directing the movement of the welt within the crevice toward the upper at the point of operation of the stitch forming devices on the parts. \As thus far described, the machine of the present invention is the same as that of the patented construction.

The machine of the prior patented construction is intended for operation upon flat relatively thin welt and the mechanism for actuating the Weltsevering knife is driven from a cam on the main sewing shaft of the machine in timed relation to the movements of the stitchforming devices. Because the welt is relatively thin a correspondingly short stroke of the Welt cutting knife is ample to sever the welt. If an attempt were made to sewv a so-calledfhigh wall welt with angularly disposed flanges on the prior machine two difliculties would be encountered. First, insufficient clearance space exists between the operating parts in the machine for the upper engaging flange of the welt and a practical form of knife; and second the stroke of the knife is inadequate to sever completely both angularly disposed flanges of the welt.

In order to provide adequate clearance space for the Welt in the illustrated machine, the sewing welt guide 22 has a welt enclosing passage of angular cross section running through its forward end in a direction to bring the sole engaging flange of the welt into sewing position on the work support 18, the work support having an integral block gage for resisting the rearward pressure of the shoe on the welt as the shoe is presented to the machine. To obtain a stroke of the welt cutting knife adequate to sever high wail welt in the illustrated machine, the knife is moved away from the sewing point or point of needle operation in the machine within the plane P to a position approximately eight or ten stitch lengths in ad Vance of the sewing point or of plane P, rather than within a single stitch length, as in the prior machine. In this position of the knife suificient space is available for an ample stroke of the knife.

To sever the welt in the present machine the knife, indicated at 26, is actuated transversely to the welt guide at high speed electromagnetically to produce a clean cut, matching the bevel at the leading end of the welt first sewn to the shoe, the leading end of the welt on the shoe having been cut when it was severed to form the trailing end of the welt on a shoe previously completed. The knife is spaced below the shoe parts operated upon sufficiently to prevent contact of the knife with the needle,

awl or the shoe itself. Accordingly, it is possible to impart to the knife a stroke transverse to the direction of the welt guide and suflicient in length to cause the knife to sever a welt effectively regardless of its cross section or thickness and without reliance on any portion of the shoe to serve as a cutting block.

The welt severing knife 26 is in the form of a flat bar having a sharpened edge 33 (Fig. 6) at one end and is beveled on its side edges to fit within a vertical guideway 28 (Figs. 1 and 3) in a block 30 secured to a right hand portion of an oscillating feed carriage 32. The guideway 28 for the knife is of dovetail cross section and is alined with a slot 34 running across the welt guide 22 (Figs. 6, 10 and 12).

The feed carriage 32 is best shown in Fig. 2 and also has secured to its right hand portion the sewing welt guide 22 and. a supplementary welt guide supporting bracket 36. At its left hand portion the feed carriage is provided with a mounting for the work support 18 and at its rearward portion with a fulcrum for the presser foot 20. For securing the parts thus referred to, except the presser foot, forwardly projecting arms of the feed carriage have threaded openings entered by screws 38 passing through the parts.

On the supporting bracket 36 in alinement with the welt guide 22 is a supplementary welt guide 40. The supplementary guide is secured to a laterally projecting portion of the bracket 36 and for this purpose a rearwardly extending portion of the supplementary guide 40 has slotted flanges, only one of which is seen in Fig. 6. In each of the slots in the flanges is a screw, one of which is shown at 41, passing into threaded engagement with the bracket 36 (see Figs. 6 and 7). The knife, therefore, and both the main and supplementary welt guides move with the work support, oscillating together as a single unit during feeding movements of the work.

Referring again to Fig. 10, the knife 26 along its length has a plurality of equally spaced threaded holes 42 and a shouldered screw stud 43, passing loosely through a laterally grooved block 44, enters a slot in the guideway block 30 and is threaded into one of the holes 42 in the knife, the shoulder on the stud 43 seating on the knife. The range of movement of the knife is controlled by selection of an appropriate threaded hole for a.

purpose which will be explained hereinafter.

To actuate the knife the illustrated machine is provided with feeler controlled mechanism, the feeler of which engages the bulging last supportedpprtions of the upper as in the machine of the copending Carter application, above referred. to. For this purpose thegrooves of the block 44 have slidingly engaged within them parallel ends on a forkedarm of a bell crank 46. The bell crank 46 is pivoted on an eccentric bolt 48 clamped in the block 30. To another arm of the bell crank 46 is connected an adjustable'rod 50 through a ball and socket joint 52. The rod 50 is also connected through a ball andsocket joint 53 carried .by a lower arm of a lever 54 fulcrumed atSSin a forwardly projecting part of the machine frame 10. An upper arm of the lever '54 has pivotally connected to it-a rod 56 passing horizontally through the machine and being pivotally connected to an armature 57"of a high-speed electromagnet solenoid 58 mounted on a bracket 60 projecting rearwardly from the machine frame 10. When the solenoid 58 is energized the rod 56 is moved rearwardly and the'rod 50 is moved forwardly to actuate thewelt severing knife 26. To return the parts to their original positions the rod 56 carries a plate 62 between which and a pin 63 on the machine frame there is stretched a spring 64.

To enable the knife to enter the welt guide 22, the slot 34 in the guide enters from beneath the guide and terminates at its upper end in a'groove 68 (see Fig. 12) extending across the. uppermost wall of the guide. To insure that the upper cutting edge of the knife will not actually strike the upper wall of the welt guide the upper limit of the range of knife movement is adjusted by unclamping the. eccentric bolt 48 and rotating it to provide the precise regulation required. If insufiicient regulation is obtainable by rotation of the eccentric bolt,

the screw stud 43 is disengaged from its threaded hole 42.

and engaged with another hole as necessity demands. It will be apparent from the regulations thus made that the upper limit of stroke for the knife will bring it into the groove 68 and cause it.to.sever the welt completely.

outflanged margin of the shoe upper being operated upon...

With such an arrangement of the feeler, difiiculty frequently is encountered as a shoe is tipped and turned in presenting it to the operating devices of the machine, the feeler frequently causing the welt severing knife to be actuated at a time other than that intended, producing inaccurately matched ends on the welt. To overcome this difliculty the illustrated machine is provided with a welt knife actuating feeler finger which is so arranged that tipping and turning movements of a shoe while presenting it to the machine have no effect on the actuation of the welt severing knife.

For actuating the welt severing knife of the machine embodying the present invention the shoe being operated upon is engaged by a hooked end of the feelerfinger, indicated at 70, and movable in two directions. The feeler finger is pressed yieldingly in a substantially horizontal direction against the bulging upper of a shoe to bring the hook, indicated at 71, within the crevice. produced between the projecting marginal portion. of the upper and the bulging last supported portion, substantially in advance of the plane P passing through the sewing pointin the machine andalso-inadvance of .thewelt severing knife 26. As the shoe is tipped and turned in presenting it to the machine, engagement of the shoe upper with the extremity of the feeler finger presses it idly rearwardly without causing any actuation of the knife. However, when the end of the welt first attached to the shoe.is engaged by the inside of the hook 71 of thefinger a pointed end of the hook is. caught beneath the upper engagingflange of the welt, causing the finger to be moved bodily toward the, sewing point. As the point at the hook of the. finger reaches .the position of the welt severingknife 26, a circuit is closed energizing the solenoid 58 and the welt is instantaneously severed, Severing the welt in this way does not interfere with the feeding movement of the shoe and may be accomplished without stopping the machine. In this way a continuous seam may be formed throughout the length of welt in a sewed seat stitchdownshoe and the final stitches of a seam may be brought into overlapping relationship with those inserted at the leading end of the welt. Overlapping the stitches is of advantage in that the joint is reenforced between the ends of the weltand a finished appearance is consequently imparted to a completed shoe.

Referring to Figs. 1,2 and 3, the feeler finger 70 is mounted to pivot. about a fulcrum screw 72 which is threaded in a slide 74. The slide is movable longitudinally toward and from the sewing point plane P in a grooved guideway 76 (Fig. 4) formed in a bracket 78. secured to the frame of the machine by screws 80. At.

the fulcrumed end of the feeler finger 70 is an upstanding projection 82 through a rearwardly extending flange of which is, threaded a stop screw 84 secured thereto by a lock nut 86. The screw 34 is engageable with a fiat 88 formed .onthe bracket 78, said screw controlling the limit of forward movement of the finger 70. To press the finger 70 forwardly a leaf spring. 90 is secured tothe bracket 78, its free end bearing on the upstanding projection of the. feeler finger 70 to urge said. finger yieldingly toward the shoe about the fulcrum screw 72.

To cause the, circuit to the solenoid 58 to be, closed when the feelerfinger is moved bodily by the welt, the bracket 78 has mounted onit a control microswitch 91 which has a plunger 92 biased toward the right. The plunger is actuated by an angularly bent plate 94, the forward end of which is secured to the slide 74 and which is movable therewith when the hooked end of the feeler finger engages and is moved by the leading advancing end B of the welt. To secure the plate 94 to the slide a screw 96 passes through an elongated slot 98 (Fig. 1) in the plate 94 permitting it to be adjusted lengthwise of the slide 74so that the relative positions of the feeler finger 70 and the plate 94 may be changed. In order to hold the feeler finger in a fixed position during sewing, an adjusting screw 99 is threaded in the plate 94 and bearson the forward portion of a case for the microswitch 91, said screw being held in place by a lock nut 100. To adjust the position of the finger 70 the screw 96 is loosened and the screw 99 rotated to cause the plate 94 to move lengthwise of the plunger 92. When the desired adjustment has been made the screw 96 and the lock nut 100 are tightened.

In order to prevent the knife from severing the welt at a time other thanwhen the finger 70 engages the lead ing cut end B of the-welt, as for example, if the hook should engage and be pulled bodily to the left by a sewed edge of the upper, as designated by the reference character 102 in Fig. 3, a safetymicroswitch 104(Figs. 1 and 11) is connected in a series circuit with the microswitch 91 and the solenoid 58. The switch 104 is normally open but is closedby the operator after the edge 1&2 is passed and. just prior to the time when the leading end of the welt approaches the finger 70, the edge 102 being visible to the operator as it approaches the feeler fingen. The operator is assisted in determining ent machine is provided with a driving and stopping mechanism (not shown) controlled by a treadle for bringing the machine to rest at the end of a seam and for releasing the shoe from the clamping action of the presser foot and work support. The present machine also employs a counting mechanism (not shown) similar to that shown in Figs. 11 to 15 of the patent but having only one notch in its counting finger so that but one full sewing cycle takes place after the treadle is released and before the machine comes to rest.

The counting-mechanism of the illustrated machine is connected by means of a cable 108 to a cam driven mechanism shown in Fig. l, which counting mechanism is similar to mechanism illustrated in Figs. 7 to 10 of the patent. In the present machine, after the operator closes the safety microswitch 104 by depressing a latch 114 and the welt severing knife is actuated, the cam mechanism releases the latch 114 thus reopening the switch and preventing a second actuation of the knife.

The safety microswitch 104 of the present machine is mounted on a lever 110 corresponding to the lever 90 in the patent. The switch has a plunger 112 engageable by the manually operated latch 114 which corresponds to the latch 120 of the patented machine. When the latch is depressed the switch 104 is closed and the lever 110 is free to move forward as it is in the patented machine. While the above-mentioned mechanisms are similar to those disclosed in the patent with the exception of the safety microswitch 104, it will be noted that the lever 110 also actuates only the welt advancing clamp, where as in the patented machine the movement of the lever 90 actuates the welt severing knife as well. i

The welt clamp is similar to that disclosed in the patent above identified, and will be described only briefly herein. Slidably mounted in the lower end of the lever 110 is a spring pressed clamp actuating plunger 116 which is engageable with an upstanding arm of the welt clamp 24 which is in the form of a lever. The welt clamp 24, best shown in Fig. 8, has a finger 121 engageable with the welt W as it moves across a block 118, the clamp being pivoted about a fulcrum 120. The clamp finger is held against the welt by a detent and the fulcrum 120 is supported by a slide 122 movable lengthwise in a guideway 124. The guideway 124 (Fig. 9) is formed in a bracket 126 clamped by means of screws 128 to the machine frame. The slide has a pair of upstanding lugs engaged between them by a lever 130 (Figs. 6 and 7) which is actuated in a manner similar to the lever 196 of the patented machine to shift the clamp from the broken line to the solid line positions in Fig. 6. In its construction and mode of operation, the clamp and its actuating mechanisms are substantially the same as disclosed in the patent with the exception that the clamp is arranged to slide a greater distance than in the machine of the patent.

In operation, after the welt has been severed, the seam carried across the joint and the machine has been brought to rest at the finish of a shoe, the welt clamp 24 is actuated by the plunger 116 in the lever 110 to grip the welt and the clamp is moved toward the sewing point to advance the leading end of the Welt into sewing position, the extent of movement of the welt being slightly greater than the spacing between the knife and the plane P in which the awl and needle oscillate.

In order to prevent return movement of the welt remaining in the welt guide after the portion attached to the shoe has been severed, there is provided a one-way welt gripping dog, comprising a lever 134 (Figs. 6, 7 and 9) beveled at its welt engaging end and pivotally mounted between a pair of upstanding ears 136 formed on a bracket 138 clamped to the machine frame. To hold the lever in engagement with the welt it is engaged by a spring 140, the welt being supported beneath the dog on. a lug on the bracket 138. Between the ears 136 on the bracket the upper surface of the welt is engaged by a roll 141. The welt under the dog may move toward the sewing point or to the left, as seen in Figs. 6 and 7, but is prevented from rearward movement by a positive clamping bite. To release the welt for replacement or adjustment the dog is provided with a handle arm readily accessible to the operator.

Since the knife 26 and the Welt guide 22 are mounted on the feed carriage 32, they oscillate as a unit with said carriage one stitch length during each sewing cycle. Therefore, the space between the knife and the plane P of the awl and needle is not constant. To assure that the knife is always actuated when it is the same distance from needle plane P, a timing microswitch 142 (Fig. 6)

having a plunger 144 is mounted on the machine frame 10, said plunger being engageable by an extension plate 146 secured to the feed carriage 32 by means'of a screw 148. The timing switch 142 is so positioned relative to the feed carriage that it will be closed only when the carriage is at the end of the work feeding stroke, i.e. at the left end as seen in Figs. 1 and 6. Thus, the knife may only be actuated when the table and presser foot are in corresponding positons.

After the knife 26 has severed the welt the feeler finger 70 releases itself from engagement with the leading severed end of the welt on the shoe being sewn. Referring more particularly to Fig. 3 of the drawings, it will be apparent that although the leaf spring urges the finger yieldingly in a forward direction toward the upper of a shoe, the position of the fulcrum screw 72 is spaced rearwardly of the shoe sufiiciently to cause the hooked end of the feeler finger also to be cammed rearwardly out of engagement with the Welt after the finger has reached the end of its bodily movement toward the left with the shoe. The feeler finger reaches the end of its bodily movement after the plate 94 depresses the plunger 92 on the control switch, the resistance by the plunger reacting on the slide 74 to stop its movement in the guideway bracket 78. The movement of the feed carriage takes a shorter amount of time than the time required for the feeler finger 70 to release itself from the leading severed end of the welt. Consequently, after the safety microswitch 104 has been closed by the operator it is arranged to remain closed long enough for the work feed carriage 32 to close the timing microswitch 142.

To cause the control microswitch 91 to remain closed until the timing microswitch 142 is closed, the forward pressure of the hooked feeler finger 70 toward the shoe is regulated by adjusting the yielding action of the leaf spring 90. For this purpose the leaf spring 90 is secured to the relatively fixed bracket 78 by screws 150 and 152,

5 5-; the screw 150 passing through the rearward end of the leaf spring and the screw 152 passing through the leaf spring nearer its forward end. The yielding action of the spring accordingly may be adjusted by rotating the screw 152 while the screw 150 secures the spring in place. It is evident that the spring 90 being secured to a fixed part of themachine may exert a yielding force on the feeler finger 70 at its portion to the right of the fulcrum screw 72 before the hooked end of the feeler finger is engaged by the leading end of the welt. As soon as the hooked end of the feeler finger 70 is engaged by the leading end of the welt the feeler begins to move bodily toward the sewing point, carrying the slide 74 with it to the left. Movement of the slide 74 to the left causes the right angularly bent end of the plate 94 to be brought into yielding engagement .with the microswitch plunger 92. As the pressure on the plunger 92 increases against its opposing bias a point is reached where the force of the spring 90 is no longer strong enough to hold the hooked end of the feeler finger 70 in engagement with the leading end of the welt and the feeler fingeris then disengaged bya component of theforce transmittedto itfrom the plunger 92; This component of force is determined, by the angle formed between the. line extending through the fulcrum screw 72 andrunning from the. hookedend of the, feeler finger andtheline of work feed, the. leading end B of the welt being beveledslightly asin Fig. 3 to facilitate release'of the feeler finger therefrom.

With a shoe in operating position, the leading end. of the welt having been sewn thereto, the: position of the angular plate'94 is adjusted on. its slide sothat the welt will be cut at just the precise moment: to produce a smooth inconspicuous joint between its leading and trailing ends. This is done by adjustingcthe screw 99 and the angular plate 94 on the slide 74 as described above. The spring 90 urges the feeler finger 70 against the bulging upper of the shoe, so that when the leading end B of the welt reaches the position shown. in Fig. 3.it will.

be engaged by the feeler finger, slide 74 and the angular plate 94 will be pulled tothe left thus depressing the control microswitch plunger 92. The control microswitch 91 is not closed until the hook of the finger 70 is above and substantially alined with the trimming knife. It will be seen from Fig. 3 that the trailing end of the Welt which passes through the welt guide 22 after cutting is not in contact with the shoe immediately after cutting but rather is inclined at an acute angle therewith in both horizontal and vertical planes so that adequate spacing between the knife and the shoe is available for theknife actuating mechanisms. Oncean adjustment is made between the feeler finger and the angular plate 94 it need not be changed for any shoe because the distance between the point where the welt is cut and the. sewing point, which is the plane P of the needle and. awl, is kept constant due to the action of the timing microswitch 142 and because the welt clamp 24 under the action of the lever 130 always moves the same length of welt through the welt guide to the sewing point each time a new shoe is inserted in the machine. Thus, both ends of the welt are matched accurately and sewn: together with overlapping stitches.

The nature and scope of the invention having been set.

forth, and a particular embodiment having been described, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the. United States is:

1. In a shoe machine for fastening the projecting marginal portions of lasted stitchdown uppers and soles, attaching and feeding devices including a work support and a presser foot and acting progressively along the.

marginal portions of the uppers and soles while presented in sole uppermost position, a guide. for directing the movement of a welt toward anupper within a crevice formed by the. projecting and bulging last supported portions of the upper and a sole atthe point of attachment with the upper, a welt severing knife spaced from the point of attachment nad movable transversely of the guide, and means for actuating the knife comprising a feeler finger adapted tobe pressed in a. substantially horizontal direction against the bulging last supported portion only of theupper intoa position to, be actuated by the leading end of the welt first attached to-the shoe as the shoe is fed bythe feeding devices.

2. In a shoe machine for fastening the projecting marginal portions of' lasted stitchdownuppers and soles, attaching and feeding devicesincluding a work support and a presser foot and acting progressively along the marginal portions of the uppers. and soles while presented in. soleuppermost position, a guide for directing the movement. of a welt toward an upper within a crevice formed. by the projecting and bulging. last supported portions of the upper and a sole at the point of attachment, a welt severing knife spaced from the point of attachment and movable transversely of the guide, and means for actuating the knife comprising a hooked finger, the hook of which is adapted to be engaged yieldingly with the leading endof the welt first attached to a shoe as the shoe is being fed by the feeding devices.

3. In a shoe machine for fastening the projecting marginal portions oflasted. stitchdown uppers and soles presented with the soles uppermost, attaching and feeding devices including a work support and a presser foot and acting progressively along the marginal portions of the uppers and soles, a guide for directing the movement of a welt toward the point of attachment within a crevice formed by the projecting and bulging last supported portions of an upper andsole, a welt severing knife spaced fromthe sewing point and movable transversely of the guide, and electromagnetic means for actuating said knife, including a control switch connected in circuit with said electromagnetic means, and means for operating said control switch comprising a feeler finger operatively connected therewith and adapted to be pressed yieldingly in a horizontal direction intoengagement with the shoe upper only as the shoe is fed by the feeding devices.

4. In a shoe machine for fastening the projecting marginal portions of lasted stitchdown uppers .and'soles presented with the soles uppermost, attaching and feeding devices including a work support and a presser foot and acting progressively along the marginal portions of the uppers and soles, a guide for-directing the movement of a welt toward the point of attachment within a crevice formedby the projecting and bulging last supported portions of an upper and sole, a welt severing knife spaced from the sewing point and movable transversely of the guide, and electromagnetic means for actuating said knife, including a control switch connected in circuit with said electromagnetic means, means for operating said control switch comprising a feeler finger operatively connected therewith and adapted to be pressed yieldingly in a. substantially horizontal direction into engagement with the shoe upper only as theshoe is fed by the feeding devices, and a safety switch in circuit with the control switch to prevent actuation of the knife except in a limited area along the marginal portions of the shoe.

5. In a sewing machine foruse in the manufacture of stitchdown shoes consisting of a lasted upper and a sole, stitch forming and feeding devices comprising a work support, a presser foot, a curved hook needle and a curved awl actingprogressively upon the parts of a shoe presented in sole uppermostposition, a guide for directing a welt toward the point of needle operation within a crevice formed by a projecting portion of the upper and its bulging last supported portion, a welt severing knife spaced from the point of needle operation and movable transversely of the guide, and electromagnetic means for actuating said knife, including a control switch connected in series with said electromagnetic means, and means for actuating said switch comprising a feeler finger having a hook operably connectedto said switch and" adapted to be engageable inside the hook by yielding movement in a substantially horizontal direction with the leading end of the Welt first attached to the shoe as the shoe is fed by the feeding devices.

6'. In asewing machine for use in the manufacture of a shoe consisting, of'an-upper and a sole on alast, stitch formingand feeding devices comprising a work support, a presserfoot, a curved hook needle and a curved awl acting progressivelyupon' the parts of'a shoe presented in sole uppermost position, a guide for directing the movement of a welt toward the point of operation of the needle andwithin a crevice formed by a projecting portion of the upper and its bulging last supported portion, a welt severing knife spaced from the point of needle operation and movable transversely of the guide, and

electromagnetic means for actuating said knife, including a I control switch connected in series with said electromagnetic means, means for actuating said control switch comprising a feeler finger having a hook pressed in a substantially horizontal direction against a last supported portion of the upper and adapted to be engageable inside 11 ,7 the hook with the leading end of the welt first attached to the upper as it is fed by thefeeding devices, said finger being operably connected to said switch, and a manually operated safety switch connected in series with said control switch to prevent completion of the circuit of the electromagnet except along a limited area of the shoe upper.

7. In a sewing machine for use in the manufacture of a shoe consisting of an upper and a sole supported on a last, stitch forming and feeding devices comprising a needle and an awl, a guide for directing a welt toward the point of operation of the needle, a welt severing knife spaced from the point of needle operation and movable transversely of the guide, and electromagnetic means for operating said knife, including a control switch, means for actuating said switch comprising a feeler finger having a hook adapted to be pressed against a last supported portion of the shoe upper in line with the leading end of the welt first attached to the shoe upper as it is fed by the feeding devices, a slide on which said fingen is pivotally mounted movable toward and from the point of needle operation, yielding means for presslng said finger against the shoe upper, and a plate for connecting said slide with said switch.

8. In a sewing machine for use in the manufacture of a shoe consisting of an upper and a sole supported on a last, stitch forming devices comprising a needle and an awl, a guide for directing the movement of a welt toward the point of operation of the needle, 2. welt severing knife spaced from the point of needle operation and movable transversely of said guide, electromagnetic means for actuating said knife, including a control switch, means for actuating said switch comprising a finger having a hook adapted to be pressed against a last supported portion of the upper in line with the leading end of the Welt first attached to the shoe, a slide movable toward and from the point of needle operation, a pivotal mounting for said finger, yielding means for swinging said finger about its pivotal mounting on said slide against the upper, a plate for connecting said slide with said switch, and an adjustable connection to vary the distance between said plate and said finger.

9. In a sewing machine for use in the manufacture of' stitchdown shoes comprising an upper and a sole supported on a last, stitch forming devices comprising a needle and an awl, a work support and a presser foot movable to grip and feed a shoe, a guide for directing the movement of a welt toward the point of operation of the needle, a welt severing knife movable transversely of said guide, said guide and said severing knife being operatively connected to the work support and movable therewith, electromagnetic means for actuating said knife, including a control switch, means for actuating said control switch comprising a movable finger having a hook engageable with the leading end of the welt attached to the shoe as the shoe moves past the point of needle operation, said finger being operably connected to said control switch, a timing switch connected in series with said control switch and said electromagnetic means and mounted in a fixed position adjacent said Work support, and means on said work support to close said timing switch at a predetermined point in the work feeding stroke, whereby the knife can only be actuated when it is a given distance from said point of needle operation.

10. In a sewing machine for use in the manufacture of stitchdown shoes supported on a last, stitch forming devices comprising a needle and an awl, a guide for directing the movement of a welt toward the point of needle operation, a welt severing knife movable into said guide transversely of the direction of movement of the welt,

said guide and said severing knife being movable back and forth. relative tosaid point of needle operation, electromagnetic means for operating said knife, a first switch connected in series with said electromagnetic means, means for actuating said firstswitch comprising 11. In a sewing machine for use in the manufacture of stitchdown shoes supported on a last, stitch forming devices comprising a needle and an awl mounted for movement through the point of operation ofthe needle, a work support and presser foot movable back and forth relative to said point of needle operation to grip and feed a shoe, a guide for directing the movement of a welt toward said point of needle operation, a welt severing knife movable into said guide transversely of the direction of movement of the welt, said guide and said severing knife being connected to the work support and movable therewith relative to said point of needle operation, electromagnetic means for operating said knife, a first switch connected in series with said electromagnetic means, means for actuating said first switch comprising a movable finger having a hook engageable with the leading end of the welt attached to the shoe as the shoe moves past the point of needle operation, said finger being operably connected to said first switch, a second switch connected in series with said first switch and said electro magnetic means and mounted in a fixed position adjacent said work support, means on said work support to close said second switch at a predetermined point in the work feeding stroke, whereby the knife can only be actuated when it is a given distance from said point of needle operation, and a third manually operated switch in series with said first and second switches to limit the time in which said first switch may be activated to a selected portion of the cycle of sewing operations.

12. In a shoe machine for fastening the projecting marginal portions of lasted stitchdown uppers and soles,

attaching and feeding devices including a work support and a presser foot and acting progressively along the marginal portions of the uppers and soles while presented in sole uppermost position, a guide for directing the movement of a welt toward an upper within a crevice formed by the projecting and bulging last supported portions of the upper and a sole at the point of attachment, a'welt severing knife spaced from the point of attachment and movable transversely to the guide, means for actuating the knife comprising a hooked finger, the hook of which is adapted to be engaged yieldingly with the leading end of the welt first attached to a shoe as the shoe is being fed by the feeding devices, and a slide on which the finger is pivoted and with which the finger 1s liIlOVfiblG bodily when the hook engages the end of the we t.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,774,498 Ashworth et a1. Sept. 2, 1930 2,151,438 .Pierce Mar. 21, 1939 2,514,265 Spatola July 4, 1950" 2,722,184 Sweet Nov. 1, 1955 

